This is because vultures in the form of brokers and pimps are always on the look out for fresh prey.

Her two brothers, only three and five years old, have migrated with her parents to Kerala.Having neighbours around in Marava, a hamelt which is a 30-minute drive from Kadiri town is reassuring for Lakshmi, but once the sun sets, the darkness brings with it the fear of the known and the unknown.In Kadiri, the author met 25-year-old Varalakshmi (name changed) who was lured by a broker ten years ago with the promise of a job and then taken to Delhi via Hyderabad.She was pushed into a brothel at GB Road, Delhi's red light area for five years. Customers would torture (me) demanding all sorts of things.Varalakshmi now lives alone, shunned by society, a reminder of the stigma of having been at a brothel. Kadiri MLA Chand Basha says sex-trafficking from his constituency is a thing of the past, saying those who desire a better life for the "sake of status" move out of Kadiri.

The NGOs in the state try to keep vulnerable girls protected by ensuring community workers, many of who have been victims of sex abuse themselves, engage and counsel people in the villages that have high rates of migration.With no agricultural work and no other means of employment, migration from Anantapur is the only way out.It is estimated that close to five lakh people, which comes to around 10 percent of Anantapur's population, have moved out, a majority of them in the last three years.A large number of women and children from Kadiri end up in brothels in Goa, Delhi and Kolkata."The girls — in homes where parents have migrated — are lured by brokers saying they will arrange a better job and better life for them."I have heard about brokers who lure young girls, and I feel scared hearing about it," says Lakshmi.